Triple trophies at Wimbledon

By espnW | Jul 1, 2013

Kirby/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

From 1919-1926, Suzanne Lenglen lost a total of one match, a controversial default at the 1921 U.S. Championships.

On this day in 1920, French tennis star Suzanne Lenglen became the first player to win three titles at Wimbledon in one year. She won the women's singles title by beating Dorothea Lambert-Chambers (a seven-time champion at Wimbledon) 6-3, 6-0 in the final. In women’s doubles, she teamed with American Elizabeth Ryan, and the duo beat Lambert-Chambers and Ethel Larcombe 6–4, 6–0 in the final. Playing with Britain’s Gerald Patterson in mixed doubles, Lenglen won the trophy with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over her doubles partner, Ryan, and Randolph Lycett. She repeated the feat of winning three titles at a single Wimbledon two more times, in 1922 and 1925. In all, Lenglen won 15 titles at Wimbledon, 19 at the French Open and two golds and a bronze at the 1920 Olympics. Lenglen died at the age of 39 on July 4, 1938. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1978. In 1997, one of the show courts at the French Open was renamed Court Suzanne Lenglen.